The Lord’s Supper: An Act of Worship
Dr. George Bannister
Sermons On The Ordinances • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 3 viewsThis sermon discusses some actions we must take to make the Lord’s Supper an act of worship.
Notes
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1 Corinthians 11:23–32 (NLT)
23 For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread
24 and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.”
26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.
27 So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup.
29 For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself.
30 That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died.
31 But if we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way.
32 Yet when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned along with the world.
INTRODUCTION:
A- Background of Passage
1- The church at Corinth was a problem church for Paul.
2- The church at Corinth was a negative influence in the community.
3- The church at Corinth was made up of immature, self-focused believers, whose beliefs and practices were at odds with their profession and self-perception.
B- The key focus of the Lord’s Supper is to be the redemption provided by Christ.
C- The key activity for believers for worshipping through the Lord’s Supper is self-examination. (1 Corinthians 11:28)
28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup.
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition Chapter 11
δοκιμαζέτω δὲ ἄνθρωπος ἑαυτόν, καὶ οὕτως ἐκ τοῦ ἄρτου ἐσθιέτω καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ποτηρίου πινέτω·
δοκιμαζέτω = to try to learn the genuineness of something by examination and testing.
Notice some specific things that Paul says we are to do a self-examination to determine.
I- EXAMINE YOURSELF FOR SALVATION. (2 Corinthians 13:5)
I- EXAMINE YOURSELF FOR SALVATION. (2 Corinthians 13:5)
Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith.
πειράζετε = to try to learn the nature or character of someone or something by submitting such to thorough and extensive testing—‘to test, to examine, to put to the test, examination, testing.’
The most important thing that you can make sure of is your salvation.
If you have never been saved, the Lord’s Supper is meaningless for you.
A- Salvation is not knowing about religion, but knowing a person.
A- Salvation is not knowing about religion, but knowing a person.
(Matthew 7:21-23)
21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.
22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’
23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’
1- Salvation is only possible by knowing Christ.
(Acts 4:12)
12 There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
(John 17:3)
3 And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.
B- There is only one way of salvation.
B- There is only one way of salvation.
(John 14:6)
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
1- Recognize your need.
(Romans 3:23)
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
(Romans 6:23)
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
2- Recognize that Jesus paid your sin-debt.
(Romans 5:8)
8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
3- Repent and place your faith in Christ
(Luke 13:3)
3 Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God.
(John 1:12)
12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.
4- Release your life to Christ.
(Romans 10:13)
13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
II- EXAMINE YOUR ATTITUDES (1 Corinthians 11:17-22)
II- EXAMINE YOUR ATTITUDES (1 Corinthians 11:17-22)
A- Examine your attitude toward fellow believers. (1 Corinthians 11:17-20)
A- Examine your attitude toward fellow believers. (1 Corinthians 11:17-20)
17 But in the following instructions, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together.
18 First, I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church, and to some extent I believe it.
19 But, of course, there must be divisions among you so that you who have God’s approval will be recognized!
20 When you meet together, you are not really interested in the Lord’s Supper.
1- The Corinthian Church was a divided church.
a. Division based upon past leaders. (1 Corinthians 3:3-9)
3 for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?
4 When one of you says, “I am a follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting just like people of the world?
5 After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us.
6 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.
7 It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.
8 The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work.
9 For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.
b. Division based upon self-perceived spiritual maturity. (1 Corinthians 3:1-2)
1 Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ.
2 I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready,
(1 Corinthians 11:19)
19 But, of course, there must be divisions among you so that you who have God’s approval will be recognized!
c. Division based upon social / economic status. (1 Corinthians 11:21-22)
21 For some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with others. As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk.
22 What? Don’t you have your own homes for eating and drinking? Or do you really want to disgrace God’s church and shame the poor? What am I supposed to say? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly will not praise you for this!
2- The Agape Feast/ Lord’s Supper displayed a total disregard for the stated purpose of the “love feast” and the meaning of the Lord’s Supper.
3- Paul condemned the divisions outright. (1 Corinthians 11:17-18)
17 But in the following instructions, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together.
18 First, I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church, and to some extent I believe it.
4- The existence of cliques and factions of any kind is contrary to our profession of faith in Christ.
B- Examine your attitude toward worship. (1 Corinthians 11:20-22)
B- Examine your attitude toward worship. (1 Corinthians 11:20-22)
20 When you meet together, you are not really interested in the Lord’s Supper.
21 For some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with others. As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk.
22 What? Don’t you have your own homes for eating and drinking? Or do you really want to disgrace God’s church and shame the poor? What am I supposed to say? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly will not praise you for this!
1- Some people in the Corinthian Church were more interested in feast with their family and cliques than worshipping through the Lord’s Supper.
a. They were behaving like pagans at a party.
b. Some pagan philosophers behaved better than the Corinthian Christians.
c. This disgraced God’s church and shamed the poor.
d. Paul condemned this practice.
2- What is our attitude when we gather for worship through the Lord’s Supper and other gatherings?
a. When we treat people, especially brothers and sisters in-Christ in demeaning ways or are indifferent towards them, we disgrace the Lord’s Church and sin against him and those we misbehave toward.
b. There are no second-class members of God’s family!
C- Examine your attitude towards the gospel. (1 Corinthians 11:23-27)
C- Examine your attitude towards the gospel. (1 Corinthians 11:23-27)
23 For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread
24 and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.”
26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.
27 So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
1- Paul called upon the Corinthian believers to focus on the gospel message, as pictured in the Lord’s Supper.
a. We are to worship the Lord Jesus Christ as we partake of the elements.
b. Note the Gospel in picture form:
The broken body = the bread
The shed blood of Christ = the grape juice.
Note the Gospel defined: (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
1 Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it.
2 It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.
3 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said.
4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.
D- Examine your attitude toward the seriousness of personal accountability to God. (1 Corinthians 11:28-34)
D- Examine your attitude toward the seriousness of personal accountability to God. (1 Corinthians 11:28-34)
28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup.
29 For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself.
30 That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died.
31 But if we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way.
32 Yet when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned along with the world.
33 So, my dear brothers and sisters, when you gather for the Lord’s Supper, wait for each other.
34 If you are really hungry, eat at home so you won’t bring judgment upon yourselves when you meet together. I’ll give you instructions about the other matters after I arrive.
1- Paul reminded the Corinthian believers of their personal accountability to God.
a. He called upon them to make an attitude and personal conduct check!
b. He urged them to examine themselves BEFORE partaking of the Lord’s Supper!
c. He pointed out that a refusal to engage in self-examination and repentance would lead to judgment by God.
Note the evidence Paul lists: (1 Corinthians 11:30)
30 That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died.
2- You and I must recognize our personal accountability to God.
a. For our attitudes and actions.
b. We are called to a higher standard of behavior than the world.
C. Our lives are to reflect the life-transforming power of the Gospel pictured in the Lord’s Supper!
CONCLUSION:
As we prepare to participate in the Lord’s Supper let’s do a serious self-examination.
of our salvation
of our attitudes toward
Our fellow-believers
Our worship
The Gospel
Our Personal accountability to God
